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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
We know OOC that the Thousand Armed Elder already knew about the shard. What even is the point in hiding it?
 
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter

Ultimately, I'm going to vote for this option because of logic based around the fact that things have already escalated to the point that this is no longer merely a sect matter.
"This is no longer merely a Sect matter," Nai Zhu's artificial voice was bland and without tone, and Ling Qi could not read a single thing of the woman's feelings in her body language. Indeed, she was only aware that the Elder was a woman because of the… manifestation she had witnessed. "Messages are already in route to the capital."

It seems to me that it would be disingenuous of the sect to express this sentiment and act on it, yet criticize those within the sect who act on their own channels to escalate the matter as well.

Now, the reason to escalate it, then, would be if we believe the iron sliver and vague translations of sanctuary warrant consideration from outside of the sect. It is a tough call, but I believe that this possibility of diplomacy warrants consideration from outside the sect, specifically of the Duchess. The Duchess is ultimately responsible for the Emerald Seas as well as the diplomatic ties the province forges with other provinces. With that rationale, I believe that actual foreign diplomacy should properly be instigated and handled by the ruling clan of the province. Which requires bringing this up to the Duchess.

There are other reasons as well. Such as my belief that the Elders would be... less than interested in pursuing any such diplomacy while the Duchess may very well be and I would love for Ling Qi to start engaging in a completely foreign culture with the purposes of securing either Non-aggression or a temporary alliance.

In other news, this is reminding me of the "King of the Forest" arc acknowledgment, where the small by their very small movements can affect the titans above them.
 
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter

Hm. While I'd expect the Argent Sect to go along with diplomatic attempts, and the reason being you don't kick upward like they did without ruthlessly pursuing every advantage that comes your way, but we've seen some pretty significant internal disagreement over how to proceed within the Argent Sect in this mission much less an actual diplomatic attempt, which is only going to get worse if Ling Qi drops a bombshell like this into the mix.

Meanwhile the fact that Yuan He wants to avoid showing internal bickering within the leadership to Shenhua makes it probable their meeting will be one on one, and this would ironically allow the Sect Head to avoid the political mess should the information passing through the usual channels by delegating it to Jiao who is conveniently available as everyone expects him to be busy recovering from injuries.

In short I expect Jiao to be pleased that Ling Qi avoided sending this through official sect channels, and creating a political mess that only makes the division within the sect even worse, but annoyed she gave him work when he wants to focus on recovery.

Also a proper Moon cultivator knows when to give out a secret.
 
Last edited:
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter
 
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter
 
it won't change the vote victor at this point, but i wonder how this decision will reflect on "Sincerity is the measure by which the worthiness of the self and ones guests should be measured."
 
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter

Dont underestimate time and knowledge for the talismanic infrastructure of Emerald seas, especially given the presence of Jiao and Shenhua

Jiao ganking a second higher level asset for the Shishigui to force them to lick their wounds

And the Violet+ that ganked Zhou being potentially crippled means that this open warfare is going to be reduced to a simmer since the Sect still has several elders left along with Yuan He

The existence of the star children also justifies the Sect getting reinforced and having the imperial funding spigot turned way the hell up

Basically

The war shifted from the Cloud Tribes preferred tempo at the strategic level to one where the Empire's at its strongest

Plus theres also the frontline base to serve as a potential means of engress for Jiao again in the future

Tactically this was a draw, but the Shishigui and the Cloud Tribes are coming out way worse for this on a strategic level, especially if the 12 Stars leave the locals to flounder while they ramp up themselves

For the frontline combatants this particular fight turned out in nearly the worst way possible barring complete annihilation
All because one tribe didn't feel like waiting another century or so to fully get ready and started raiding with his own Underempire buddies.
All because he thought he had a distinct advantage and knew better than they did about kickoff time.
Except the Empire has already conceded that not all Cloud Nomads are enemies, if they hadn't Wang lands would not have populations consisting of former nomads.

Further to argue that all nomads behind the Wall are enemies, even the ones that aren't strictly allied with the Tribes actively attacking, is a strategic failure of such epic proportions since it's little more than a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The issue is that their blood is up, they're pissed and they don't want to win so much as inflict PAIN.
Even Elder Jiao was uncharacteristically furious, when he barely shows any emotions at all.
Elder Yongrui's Way is about serenity and contentment and he wanted to kill them all and burn the ashes.
The Sect just had the equivalent of a military group attempting to crash a clandestine meeting of various terrorist groups who are negotiating terms of cooperation with each other only to find out that it was in fact a nuclear arms deal that had a full battalion of support just out of sight, when your hope was to at least perform decapitating strike if not capture some of their leadership structure and now your contending with far worse things all the while your intel and comms personnel are screaming at each other about a thousand things no one planned to be dealing with today all the while your senior staff are busy trying to keep the deployment of your major weapons from becoming a complete shit show.
Worse, the Sect has declared that they're terrorist groups, when there's actually two peer powers in open attendance.
it won't change the vote victor at this point, but i wonder how this decision will reflect on "Sincerity is the measure by which the worthiness of the self and ones guests should be measured."
No conflict:
-Tell the Sect then Tell Shenhua -> The Sect may come to different conclusions and take different actions from Shenhua, which has to be resolved later.
-Tell Shenhua first -> Shenhua makes a Choice, Sect grumbles but has to go along.

Sincerity does not mean baring your heart without reason.
 
Last edited:
it won't change the vote victor at this point, but i wonder how this decision will reflect on "Sincerity is the measure by which the worthiness of the self and ones guests should be measured."
It is not insincere to not tell everyone everything all the time. We actually addressed that specifically two months ago.
It was a bluff, Guan Zhi could not afford to fight here… but it wasn't a lie, it was merely an omission. It was not her fault that the creature lacked that piece of context. In that way, she could be wholly sincere and yet not convey the fullness of truth.

In her thoughts a minor conflict between her insights and duties seemed to click.

Speech Skill evolves
Sincere Negotiator- Honesty is not naivety and sincerity does not mean showing your whole hand. A skill to speak and negotiate with honest intent while maintaining your advantages.
 
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter

side note: we really should have Ling Qi carry some level-appropriate healing and Qi replenishing pills.
We used to have some back in the yellow realm, but this arc has shown that they and no longer relevant (or Ling Qi acted especially idiotic and didn't think to use them)

[edited to preserve the delicate sensibilities of some people]
 
Last edited:
it won't change the vote victor at this point, but i wonder how this decision will reflect on "Sincerity is the measure by which the worthiness of the self and ones guests should be measured."
But we aren't lying to anyone, it's a matter of initiative. Sincerity doesn't mean we have to yell our secrets to everyone, just that we honest in our approach. Silence in this regard would be pretty telling too (for better or for worse). It's not like lQ actually can conceal the sliver this close to Elders. Here we just choosing who we tell first.

[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter

side note: we really should have Ling Qi carry some level-appropriate healing and Qi replenishing pills.
We used to have some back in the yellow realm, but this arc has shown that they and no longer relevant (or Ling Qi is retarded and didn't think to use them)
Don't forget about Qi-cards too. I guess some things were too good to stay canon.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top