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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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Liliet said:
Okay, so I've wanted to ask for a while: where is the idea of us "managing our fief" coming from? I'm pretty sure that's what hired administrators are for, while the kid noble's job is to play artillery and intrigue on the outside. Sure, maybe if Ling Qi was into management she'd go for it, but she's visibly not. The most "managing the fief" I can imagine her doing is the tense and exciting vote of "ask Cai Renxiang to send an inspector over or nah"
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Here is the first mention of us having a fief.

yrsillar said:
Ling Qi frowned deeply, feeling like she may have missed something in her friend's words, but she could also tell that Meizhen didn't want to say anymore. "So… what would it be like then, being her retainer?" Ling Qi asked, changing the subject.

"You would likely be given a fief near the capital of emerald seas, or wherever the duchess elects to send her heir if she chooses not to keep her at court," Meizhen replied, relaxing fractionally. "You would be expected to perform tasks for your lord and attend her in official capacities, as you would in any other situation," the other girl continued. "However, you would receive rather more significant resources toward the building of your own house. Cai Renxiang has every reason to desire vassals who are more than the fodder new houses often become."
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This, of course, could change depending on the nature of our assignments from Shenhua and Renxiang.

Generally, however, nobles are landed. They are given land to tame and make productive, populations to protect and grow, and infrastructure to develop. It's how the Empire gradually tames the land that it controls, by giving uncultivated land to new noble families for the purposes of gradually taming it and developing it. And if the new families die in the attempt, no real harm was caused and another family can be enticed to try.
 
Briefvoice said:
So sick of every fighting-related decision having to center around Zhengui.
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The hilarious part is that people seem to think he's a delicate little flower when the fact is Zhengui is an absolute monster on the battlefield. We have not once seen him get hurt badly enough to do his self-destruct thing - and that includes the time when a Cyan ranked combatant decided to straight up yeet him into a mountain (because he's so unbelievably tanky that even a Cyan ranked cultivator looked at him and went "Beating him down would take too long. Let's just throw him into the mountain to stop his partner from escaping").

Between his ridiculous natural armor, his insane battlefield control abilities, and his long ranged artillery options, Zhengui is really damn strong (though admittedly he'd still need to get up close and personal to do the most damage). Yes, he excels at more defensive battles, but even in an offensive fight Zhengui should definitely not be underestimated.

His only real weakness is his relative lack of mobility, but even that's countered by the fact that Ling Qi can teleport allies around, yeet him away (or drag enemies closer) via eagle express, or even just fly up and drop him on someone's head like a living meteor (a tactic she actually used during the Chu Song fight in last year's tournament).

I have faith that no matter which choice we end up picking, Zhengui will end up playing a pivotal role in ensuring our success.
 
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zamin said:
His only real weakness is his relative lack of mobility, but even that's countered by the fact that Ling Qi can teleport allies around, yeet him away (or drag enemies closer) via eagle express, or even just fly up and drop him on someone's head like a living meteor (a tactic she actually did during the Chu Song fight in last year's tournament).
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Most significantly in the present case, we're assaulting a fixed location they need for their ritual.

Parking Zhengui on it ensures they must defeat him to continue. He'd be in heaven from guaranteed aggro.
 
[X] Assault the Cloud Tribe Ritual Site (Offensive Mission, Objectives: Kill and capture enemy combatants, gather intelligence, Survive)

Can we do the Meteor Zhengui attack like we did with Chu Song?
 
[X] Defend the Geomantic Forts (Defensive Mission, Objective: Hold the Line, Defend production students, Survive)

EDIT: Changed my vote. I like that this one looks like the fighting will be across multiple sites. I suspect this give the two of them more of a chance to shine than if they are just playing backup for the elites who are probably spearheading the attack on the ritual site.

Moreover the ratfolk seem the more menacing threat right now. The chance to give Li Suyin more screentime is also compeling.
 
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I'll also note that Ling Qi is high mobility with eagle yeets and glacier shoves. She can absolutely force enemies into Zhengui.
 
Shen Hu would likely be underground and we'd get to see more of what he can do with his hidden spirit, Yan Renshu probably as well and I'd like to see what our domain would do to him.
 
Thor's Twin said:
Here is the first mention of us having a fief.


This, of course, could change depending on the nature of our assignments from Shenhua and Renxiang.

Generally, however, nobles are landed. They are given land to tame and make productive, populations to protect and grow, and infrastructure to develop. It's how the Empire gradually tames the land that it controls, by giving uncultivated land to new noble families for the purposes of gradually taming it and developing it. And if the new families die in the attempt, no real harm was caused and another family can be enticed to try.
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Yes, obviously we're going to have a fief.

That doesn't mean we're going to be managing it.

The noble's job is to protect the place, not to manage it. That's what professional bureaucrats are for. Nobody expects a newly landed commoner who just came from 7 years in military service to understand absolutely anything about how administration works. They're going to have stewards for that, their job is to cultivate and build political contacts.

I'm sure someone with Renxiang's interests and dedication and ambitions COULD take over the management of their fief personally. But that's... that's not Ling Qi.
 
Liliet said:
Yes, obviously we're going to have a fief.

That doesn't mean we're going to be managing it.

The noble's job is to protect the place, not to manage it. That's what professional bureaucrats are for. Nobody expects a newly landed commoner who just came from 7 years in military service to understand absolutely anything about how administration works. They're going to have stewards for that, their job is to cultivate and build political contacts.

I'm sure someone with Renxiang's interests and dedication and ambitions COULD take over the management of their fief personally. But that's... that's not Ling Qi.
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Weren't we planning on dumping all the boring paperwork and stuff onto mom Qingge anyway? I'm kinda confused why some people seem to think that Ling Qi would be really interested in micromanaging her new fief when she could be snorting drugs instead.
 
veekie said:
Most significantly in the present case, we're assaulting a fixed location they need for their ritual.

Parking Zhengui on it ensures they must defeat him to continue. He'd be in heaven from guaranteed aggro.
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They aren't actually using it for a ritual though. Not that we have evidence of magical rituals being a thing they often do, as opposed to just common religious rites without dedicated effect on warfare, but even if they were we are not expecting one.
yrsillar said:
"Firstly, the Sect's intelligence has discerned where a number of the barbarian lower level leadership is meeting to coordinate, it is believed that the site is also of some ritual importance. A group is needed to assault it,"
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Its just a meeting that they could have wherever, but they chose this place. Which does hint to it being important enough to justify us taking it away, but they are hardly so tied to defend it that they have to stand and fight Zhengui unless somebody in our group forces them to.
 
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065tdsa said:
Its just a meeting that they could have wherever, but they chose this place. Which does hint to it being important enough to justify us taking it away, but they are hardly so tied to defend it that they have to stand and fight Zhengui unless somebody in our group forces them to.
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In that case they wouldn't let us sit there and desecrate their holy site either. Assuming the Sect and the Cai aren't utter idiots, that the Empire is launching an attack at Cloud Nomads rather than doing Hot Pursuit suggests that they have plans to make this work out.
 
zamin said:
Weren't we planning on dumping all the boring paperwork and stuff onto mom Qingge anyway? I'm kinda confused why some people seem to think that Ling Qi would be really interested in micromanaging her new fief when she could be snorting drugs instead.
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That's not something I think mom could do, she's fine managing the household but a fief? Nah better to let one of the locals or CRX's bureaucratic bloodhounds do the work instead.
 
veekie said:
In that case they wouldn't let us sit there and desecrate their holy site either. Assuming the Sect and the Cai aren't utter idiots, that the Empire is launching an attack at Cloud Nomads rather than doing Hot Pursuit suggests that they have plans to make this work out.
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I'm sure they do. My point is that when you take away the ability to fly from the people whose entire fighting style is defined by their ability to fly, its not because Zhengui is so good that he can win that fight, its because his enemies are crippled to the point where you might as well break their legs. Whereas if the sect's plan doesn't go so well he'll be left sitting around on the site while we go pursue.

Compared to a defensive scenario against someone who isn't crippled, it is no real show of his abilities.
 
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Liliet said:
Yes, obviously we're going to have a fief.

That doesn't mean we're going to be managing it.

The noble's job is to protect the place, not to manage it. That's what professional bureaucrats are for. Nobody expects a newly landed commoner who just came from 7 years in military service to understand absolutely anything about how administration works. They're going to have stewards for that, their job is to cultivate and build political contacts.

I'm sure someone with Renxiang's interests and dedication and ambitions COULD take over the management of their fief personally. But that's... that's not Ling Qi.
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We're a Baron, about as low as a noble gets, barely above glorified farmers.
I'd expect there to be lot of hands on stuff, even if only "go fix the wards and drive away the spirit beats" type.
 
065tdsa said:
I'm sure they do. My point is that when you take away the ability to fly from the people whose entire fighting style is defined by their ability to fly, its not because Zhengui is so good that he can win that fight, its because his enemies are crippled to the point where you might as well break their legs. Whereas if the sect's plan doesn't go so well he'll be left sitting around on the site while we go pursue.

Compared to a defensive scenario against someone who isn't crippled, it is no real show of his abilities.
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And he can participate via area denial and instant field fortifications. That makes a big difference, it forces fliers to come down if they want to attack the ranged artillery sources without first blasting through the regenerating wood walls by raw force.
 
veekie said:
And he can participate via area denial and instant field fortifications. That makes a big difference, it forces fliers to come down if they want to attack the ranged artillery sources without first blasting through the regenerating wood walls by raw force.
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If the plan works there won't be fliers. If the plan fails the fliers will run away and we'll have to chase. Also, walls are best attacked from above, even if Zhengui does make ceilings they won't be as sturdy.

And bypassing a growing wall of plants by getting closer is stupid to the point that I feel insulted on behalf of the cloud tribesmen.
 
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Insert Tally
Adhoc vote count started by 065tdsa on Jul 15, 2020 at 12:00 PM, finished with 250 posts and 112 votes.
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Liliet said:
Yes, obviously we're going to have a fief.

That doesn't mean we're going to be managing it.

The noble's job is to protect the place, not to manage it. That's what professional bureaucrats are for. Nobody expects a newly landed commoner who just came from 7 years in military service to understand absolutely anything about how administration works. They're going to have stewards for that, their job is to cultivate and build political contacts.

I'm sure someone with Renxiang's interests and dedication and ambitions COULD take over the management of their fief personally. But that's... that's not Ling Qi.
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We're probably going to have some control even if we don't run all the day to day. Likely we'll have a few votes for what we do in the fief and I could see managing it replacing Sect and Contribution Points. Maybe once we unlock multipresence we'll have a separate AP category with things like running the fief, composing, training vassals, Crafts and Formations, diplomancing the local spirits, scholarly pursuits and family.

I could see CRX sit us down and teach us how to rule properly as per her goal to build a good society. She'll explain about managing and administrating a fief to which Ling Qi will have a light bulb moment and break out the spreadsheets. Just casually create a five year plan to maximize growth of a number of factors with predictions and adjustments at the ready. And CRX who's stated goal is to be the builder her mother isn't will just look at our secretly-a-talented-administrator ditz with incomprehension.
 
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[X] Assault the Cloud Tribe Ritual Site (Offensive Mission, Objectives: Kill and capture enemy combatants, gather intelligence, Survive)
 
Liliet said:
Yes, obviously we're going to have a fief.

That doesn't mean we're going to be managing it.

The noble's job is to protect the place, not to manage it. That's what professional bureaucrats are for. Nobody expects a newly landed commoner who just came from 7 years in military service to understand absolutely anything about how administration works. They're going to have stewards for that, their job is to cultivate and build political contacts.

I'm sure someone with Renxiang's interests and dedication and ambitions COULD take over the management of their fief personally. But that's... that's not Ling Qi.
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2 things

You can only audit if you understand, not having a presence in your fief's administration is begging for corruption or just honest mistakes.

Secondly, keep in mind that we're going to have a massive cultivation edge on our staff. We'll be able to casually brute force superior competency in their fields of specialty. We won't really be able to afford more than a bare handful of underlings for which this is not the case.
 
Liliet said:
Yes, obviously we're going to have a fief.

That doesn't mean we're going to be managing it.

The noble's job is to protect the place, not to manage it. That's what professional bureaucrats are for. Nobody expects a newly landed commoner who just came from 7 years in military service to understand absolutely anything about how administration works. They're going to have stewards for that, their job is to cultivate and build political contacts.

I'm sure someone with Renxiang's interests and dedication and ambitions COULD take over the management of their fief personally. But that's... that's not Ling Qi.
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That's why CRX is teaching Ling Qi a lot about bureaucracy and the laws of the empire and fief management.

A new Baron being bad at management is just yet another reason why a lot of new Barons gets screwed over and either lose their nobility or get subsumed by another family soon. Saying "someone else will manage it" doesn't exactly work when we are CRX' retainer and have to prove that we are more than just a glorified thug (and it would be hard to trust people managing instead of Ling Qi).
 
[X] Assault the Cloud Tribe Ritual Site (Offensive Mission, Objectives: Kill and capture enemy combatants, gather intelligence, Survive)
 
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