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

[X] Assault the Cloud Tribe Ritual Site (Offensive Mission, Objectives: Kill and capture enemy combatants, gather intelligence, Survive)

[X] Assault the Cloud Tribe Ritual Site (Offensive Mission, Objectives: Kill and capture enemy combatants, gather intelligence, Survive)

Its a Ritual Site.
Thats just asking for hot insertion of Zhengui into the middle of the ritual, good luck conducting a ritual once the ground has been replaced by instant fortifications that attack everyone on it. That'd force them to need to defeat Zhengui to continue the ritual.

veekie said:

[X] Assault the Cloud Tribe Ritual Site (Offensive Mission, Objectives: Kill and capture enemy combatants, gather intelligence, Survive)

Its a Ritual Site.
Thats just asking for hot insertion of Zhengui into the middle of the ritual, good luck conducting a ritual once the ground has been replaced by instant fortifications that attack everyone on it. That'd force them to need to defeat Zhengui to continue the ritual.

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I mean, he's also capable of summoning a volcano, which will probably obliterate any formations or altars that aren't protected against the ground under them exploding.

Also with PLR and Eagle to drop allies into the fort Zhengui makes, it would be possible to literally set up an instant fortress wherever is needed.

Zeful said:

I mean, he's also capable of summoning a volcano, which will probably obliterate any formations or altars that aren't protected against the ground under them exploding.

Also with PLR and Eagle to drop allies into the fort Zhengui makes, it would be possible to literally set up an instant fortress wherever is needed.

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And if they beat him the ritual site is ruined anyways hehehe

Just to clarify, are we expected or aiming to destroy the ritual site in the Offensive Assault option?

[X] Assault the Cloud Tribe Ritual Site (Offensive Mission, Objectives: Kill and capture enemy combatants, gather intelligence, Survive)
I am convinced.

[X] Defend the Geomantic Forts (Defensive Mission, Objective: Hold the Line, Defend production students, Survive)

Protect the means of production!

Time to be the mobile oppression fortress!

Lena27 said:

Just to clarify, are we expected or aiming to destroy the ritual site in the Offensive Assault option?

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The state of the ritual site is likely not mission critical, but keeping it relatively intact for study would be a plus when combined with the specific omission objective of capturing combatants alive and information gathering.

Jensaarai said:

It's a meeting point, and possible ritual site of some sort, but like I said before we haven't actually seen the Cloud Tribe do fixed point defenses and knee-deep-in-the-mud kinds of fights. Zhengui will probably be doing some stuff in the first couple rounds, but beyond that? I think the fight is going to get too high into the sky for him.

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Depends if they have anything that they need to defend.

The ritual site might be a summoning circle for a great storm or cataclysm of sorts to wreck the sects infrastructure and land's.

RebelYell said:

The ritual site might be a summoning circle for a great storm or cataclysm of sorts to wreck the sects infrastructure and land's.

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Given it's supposed to be a bunch of lower level leadership, I doubt that it's anything as big a deal as this. Ritual sites are also a pretty broad term. Could be a historically significant site, or something to do with their cultivation, or a cultural location for meetings.

Another thing to consider is that while CRX and Ling Qi are pretty much the only inner sect disciples with flight, the Argent Sect has been specializing in fighting the Cloud Tribe without fliers (of our level) for centuries. The Shishigui are a much newer enemy and after the big mission we're probably among the disciples with the most experience fighting these guys. Its also worth noting that the Cloud mission doesn't really have a level cap for the forces the sect can deploy, while the underground mission does. So underground is probably where our duties on the mission will be proportionally more vital and the mission itself will be riskier.

The Cloud mission is going to be a degrees of success thing where we might win big or we might just catch a few minnows but there isn't too much chance of flat out getting our asses kicked. Underground will be an all-or-nothing 'can we finish construction without being overrun?' But on the third hand even if the underground mission is a failure (for reasons other than us screwing up) we could still see a big rank increase if our efforts in the fighting retreat are an invaluable part of protecting and recovering sect personnel and resources.

CRX wouldn't have given us these options if both weren't sufficient for our purposes (a statement that probably vaguely contradicts something I just said) so I would prefer to steer closest to the spirit of our promise and pick the option that is more likely to let us fight alongside Zhengui. It's one thing to be ordered on a mission that doesn't fit him that well, but purposefully going for the worse fitting option doesn't sit right with me.

Also I'm more interested in Li Suyin and Xuan Shi than the people we might get paired with on the offense mission.

There's dozens of other pros and cons, but I don't want to be adding to this all night.

[X] Defend the Geomantic Forts (Defensive Mission, Objective: Hold the Line, Defend production students, Survive)

[X] Assault the Cloud Tribe Ritual Site (Offensive Mission, Objectives: Kill and capture enemy combatants, gather intelligence, Survive)

... I kinda wanna see both. Still CRX mass dispel and Ling Qi's AoE damage plus flight plus Zhengui as mobile prison camp. Should be fun.

[X] Defend the Geomantic Forts (Defensive Mission, Objective: Hold the Line, Defend production students, Survive)

Good point about underground having level caps so 3rd realms can have an outsized effect.

[X] Defend the Geomantic Forts (Defensive Mission, Objective: Hold the Line, Defend production students, Survive)

[X] Assault the Cloud Tribe Ritual Site (Offensive Mission, Objectives: Kill and capture enemy combatants, gather intelligence, Survive)

I kind of like the barbarian option better narratively from a pacing standpoint, but I do agree with that the underground is more interesting tactically (and maybe even narratively? ).

Let me explain why I like the barbarian option:

1) In many ways, Ling Qi's heroic efforts against the first major barbarian incursion was a demonstration of both her personal power as well as her inexperience. She chased barbarians away but never quote managed to score a convincing win against them. Like sure, she killed a bunch, but the results were mostly inconclusive.

2) It put a spotlight on all the glaring deficiencies in her own personal philosophies: from her views on family to the meaning of heroism and self-sacrifice and even the role she plays in times of war.

Narratively, then, it'd be satisfying for her to come back and demonstrate just how much progress she has made. Her field effects are far more potent, she's wargamed with Zhengui and can coordinate better with him and her personal defenses have been jacked through the roof. CRX and her working in tandem would call back to that initial bandit raid too.

It's a reasonable place for the narrative to go.

On the other hand...

There are no good memories of the underground. CRX got puppeted by her dress, Ling Qi is literally part dream, Zhengui lost one of his dreams, and fourth realm enemies hit others with forced pain gestalts...

The likelihood of things going pear-shaped and for another Rita Repulsa 'Make My Monster Grow' moment to happen seems fairly high, especially since the Shishigui have a combat doctrine that makes them go in hard. Being able to triumph there would be frigging great though.