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

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

Seems like they're the biggest threat to our ability to break contact and return to base without popping that escape talisman based on their descriptor. I am a bit worried about the two assassin dancers though. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out either way.

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

Putting out the enemy's eyes is just too appealing. Also, I want to see a straight-up brawl more than spy vs. spy shenanigans.

Zeful said:

The group's entry point was the dreaming fungus, if the way there is still open for retreat than it should be possible to have it consume pursuers, so weakening tracking might not be the best play. Taking out the dancers or the drillyard might be more impactful to current strategic concerns.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

to be clear, the exfiltrate point is mass group teleport. We will not be leaving through the fungus unless something goes *catastrophically* wrong. In which case, we're *probably* going to leave through the fungus *if* we're not too weakened. In the catastrophe case, we *need* to eliminate the intel and tracking though or the assassins or mooks will 100% be able to track us down

JowKeen said:

to be clear, the exfiltrate point is mass group teleport. We will not be leaving through the fungus unless something goes *catastrophically* wrong. In which case, we're *probably* going to leave through the fungus *if* we're not too weakened. In the catastrophe case, we *need* to eliminate the intel and tracking though or the assassins or mooks will 100% be able to track us down

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

No, this is explicitly wrong. We are to evacuate conventionally if possible. We'll use the Escape Talisman only if it looks like somebody might die if we don't. For instance, if a Fourth Realm hits the field. We will as a result, leave through the fungus if possible, use the talisman if not, and if the talisman is not able to be used when we need to leave, we're probably dead.

Elder Jiao would prefer to keep our teleportation capability up his sleeve if possible, but values it less than our lives.

JowKeen said:

to be clear, the exfiltrate point is mass group teleport. We will not be leaving through the fungus unless something goes *catastrophically* wrong. In which case, we're *probably* going to leave through the fungus *if* we're not too weakened. In the catastrophe case, we *need* to eliminate the intel and tracking though or the assassins or mooks will 100% be able to track us down

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

I think it's the other way. We are only to use the teleport as a last option.

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[] The shrine and the Dancers (hinders enemy stealth attack efforts, morale damage to enemy)
-2 approximately peer combatants, stealth-evade-poison spec. Our team shouldn't have much difficulty fighting these, but it'd be mainly a Ji Rong and Ling Qi show though, I don't think Zhengui or Hanyi can hit them well.
-Spiritually significant site may spur opponents to take unusual risks to defend it. May be key to fixed wards?

I think the big deal with this is mostly that the Dancers hadn't stealthed yet, and so they'd be easier to fight right now than later. Left to their own devices they'd probably aim to strike at our team, so Su Ling and Bian Ya may be at some risk, but they're both Perception specialists, so the risks of that is low.

[] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)
-One Elite in heavy armor - Ji Rong's perfect opposition.
-Unspecified numbers of mid range combatants - Ling Qi's ideal conditions
-Large numbers of weaker beasts - Team Ling Qi's ideal conditions.

The long term challenge with this is that tracking animals will make a clean escape much harder, even if we kill initial pursuit, the trackers will increase the risks of a Shoggoth or higher realm strike force being accurately dropped on us...counterpoint being that we have a secured escape route through unilaterally dangerous terrain, the fungus will let us pass, but not them, so we don't need to care quite as much about that.
The more immediate concerns is the buff stacks. As we've seen so far the Shishigui have three main prongs of combat threat:
-Combining the dead into a big gribbly - We can't avoid this.
-Escalating buff-stacks - Right here, we can break the chain before it finishes booting.
-Powerful talismans - Thats over by the Dancers. Probably

The buff stacks of theirs are much more powerful than our squad of individualistic builds if it gets going, due to the sheer numbers here.

[] The Drillyard (Overall chaos, prevents enemy organization for forming up.)
-Liao Zhu is already here and causing massive damage
-Target rich environment - Plays to Team Ling Qi's strengths, but Ji Rong isn't very effectively used, Liao Zhu is doing anything he could do better.

Overall waste of time hitting this I think.


[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

Time to kill the younglings

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[] The shrine and the Dancers (hinders enemy stealth attack efforts, morale damage to enemy)
Success makes our retreat easier. Zhengui's AoE techs like his root walls could be really useful, depending on the temple's entranceways and formation reinforcement. We know there's more people in the temple, could be a pain for the mission if there's more than the 2 dancer we've seen. Most amusing possibility is if Ji Rong saves Hanyi from getting stabbed at some point.

[] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)
Success makes our retreat easier. Zhengui same as above, penning in the swarmers could be decisive if his bullwarks can be preserved against the efforts of the third realms. Tender-buffers could be a real hurdle if they manage to form up with either of the two other fronts. Most amusing possibility is if Ling Qi dream-ports Ji Rong out of a coordinated feint with the G4 about to land a blow.

[] The Drillyard (Overall chaos, prevents enemy organization for forming up.)
Extends how long we can make a ruckus before we need to skedaddle. Team Ling's AoE capabilities wreak havok. Bad news if they organize and start pressuring us from behind while we're preoccupied with individually stronger enemies. Most amusing possibility is if we're effective enough for Ji Rong's dragon and Hanyi to compete with each other in relative safety among the fray.

Ultimately, the logic boils down to one key factor for me though:

[X] The shrine and the Dancers (hinders enemy stealth attack efforts, morale damage to enemy)
Dance party? Dance party!

Maybe Sixiang can come out and dance with us~

JowKeen said:

to be clear, the exfiltrate point is mass group teleport. We will not be leaving through the fungus unless something goes *catastrophically* wrong. In which case, we're *probably* going to leave through the fungus *if* we're not too weakened. In the catastrophe case, we *need* to eliminate the intel and tracking though or the assassins or mooks will 100% be able to track us down

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

To bring up a new issue that the others haven't, the escape talisman will take time to spool up, which is why it's the last resort option. Everyone is strong enough to be able to move quickly, unless injured or significantly exposed to environmental toxins that the day or so it will take to reach the surface risks killing them. This is why I brought up exfiltration, the group is hitting the zone that is least likely to see reinforcement from a fourth grade combatant of the choices offered last vote, and thus has the lowest chance of needing the escape talisman. Therefore thinking about how the group will leave the field is important.

Unless Su Ling divines a faster and safer path out than the dream fungus while she's waiting, the group will be headed back through it. Therefore it might work to stall out pursuit as it eats the weak rat-dogs that will follow the group into the area. This could end the pursuit immediately, meaning the threat the Kennels represent is all in short term risks of the buff scaling, and contrasting that risk against the enemy falling into proper order, I feel that preventing that would be more narratively impressive, since it's a call back of the time Ling Qi trained with Gan Guangli in Forge.

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

yrsillar said:

Ling Qi could feel the screams from within the vanishing tower, even if the actual sound was unable to escape the circle.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

By the way, this is my favourite line from the update. Ling Qi's mastery over Music, and probably her soft-capped Empathy and having MoSS equipped and a number of other small factors, let her detect the Shishigui's dying expressions of shock, fear, and pain through a 4th realm technique that compressed its area of effect so strongly that no sound or even light could escape from it.

Not to say that a 4th realm wouldn't shut that kind of thing down trivially if they wanted to, but it does highlight some of Ling Qi's spooky spiritual prowess.

[X] The shrine and the Dancers (hinders enemy stealth attack efforts, morale damage to enemy)

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

Inserted tally

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)

[X] The Kennel and the Brute (Hinders Enemy buff structure and tracking/intelligence gathering)